- Better Late Than Never

INSIDE FLORIDA

CONVENTIONAL WISDOM in Tallahassee holds that Justice Rosemary Barkett, the only woman serving on the Florida Supreme Court, wrote the court's landmark opinion protecting abortion under the state Constitution's right to privacy. Wrong. The opinion was unsigned when the court released it on Oct. 5, but Justice Leander Shaw came forward a few days later to sign his name. Why the delay? ''This is the kind of opinion that gets your telephone ringing off the hook, and I just didn't want that,'' Shaw said. ''After I'd given it some thought, I thought it might not be fair to the other members of the court so I went ahead and signed it.''